The conflict between the Russian Church and Bulgaria is gaining momentum. We should recall that the Bulgarian authorities recently deported the head of the Russian church court, Archimandrite Vasian Zmeyev, his secretary Archpriest Yevgeny Palchuk, and staffer V. Bonko. The reason was accusations of espionage in favor of the Russian Federation, which Bulgaria assessed as a threat to national security.
Such actions by the Bulgarian side enraged the Moscow diplomacy, which was the first to start ringing the bells, as well as the Moscow Patriarchate, which almost immediately expressed a note of protest. Later, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, personally sent a letter to the head of the Bulgarian Church, expressing his outrage.
In turn, Bulgarian Patriarch Neofit, a few days after the incident, appointed Bulgarian clerics to serve in the Russian court, who had long been performing services there anyway, while remaining nder the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Church. Patriarch Neofit informed Gundyaev of this decision in a personal letter. The move was also supported by the Bulgarian Synod.
However, Moscow opposed such actions of the Bulgarian Patriarch, stating that only the Patriarch of Moscow can appoint clerics to the court. Currently, the church of St. Nicholas, which is a Russian courtyard, remains closed to parishioners, and no services are held there. The church building belongs to the Russian embassy in Bulgaria.
Recently, the Russian Synod joined this saga, and at its latest meeting expressed a “categorical protest” against the expulsion of Russian spies in cassocks from the country. At the same time, the synodals did not stand up for their deported wards, but appointed a new leader to the Bulgarian court – Archpriest Vladimir Tyshchuk, a cleric with the Vienna and Austrian diocese.
The appointment of a Russian churchman who served in Europe, and not in Russia itself, is no accident. After all, as we noted in our previous publication, no new representative from Moscow or another city of Russia would simply not be allowed into Bulgaria after such a silent incident. However, due to the change of faces, the duties do not change. And therefore it is not difficult to guess that the new head of the court is entrusted with the same powers, namely espionage for the benefit of Russia and the spread of the ideology of the “Russian world” in Bulgaria. We are yet to see whether he will be able to actually get to Bulgaria.
For now, let’s return to his predecessor, Archimandrite Vasian Zmeyev. The Synod blessed him now to spy in Jerusalem, where he will head the Russian spiritual mission.
Such an appointment against the background of recent events in Israel is of great interest. At first glance, it seems that it is either punishment or exile. After all, moving from sunny and peaceful Bulgaria to warring Israel, during the escalation of the conflict, is not too attractive of a move. However, such an appointment against the background of the fact that Russia is considered one of the interested parties in the war, does not look like a simple coincidence. It is likely that the unsuccessful Russian spy has new tasks to perform for “Mother Russia”, now in Israel.
At the same time, the change of the head of the Russian spiritual mission in Jerusalem took place after the recent statements of Patriarch Theophilos about the readiness to be a mediator in the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine, as well as controversial issues in world Orthodoxy. However, such initiatives, taking into account the new hot phase of the war in Israel, will be suspended and postponed for a long time. At least until the end of this active phase. After all, looking for peaceful ways to resolve the war in Ukraine and being a mediator when you yourself live in a warring country is nonsensical and absurd. Well, it is quite obvious that the Patriarch of Jerusalem is not interested in convening the Amman 2.0 meeting for the sake of Moscow.
In the meantime, we will watch how the events in Bulgaria and Jerusalem unfold. Their positive or negative development will depend on the position of the Russian Church on the inter-Orthodox world arena, where the Church of Moscow is currently an outsider.
